Christmas in Alsace

The story

There are places where "Christmas" is more "Christmas", where the holidays are felt more deeply, tradition is more respected and people are more involved than elsewhere.

One of these places is Alsace: a French region "only just", on the border with Germany, where the German influence is clearly evident in its style and customs.

A respected Germanic tradition is that of the Christmas markets and of the cult of Christmas in general.

We set off as a couple from Varese at first light on a Friday in early December.

We reach France smoothly through the Gotthard, and by mid-morning we are already in Alsace; the first stop on the programme is the castle of Haut-Koenigsbourg. It is a large, well-preserved and well-furnished castle; for the occasion it is also pleasantly decorated for the holidays. We freely visit the rooms and the lovely inner courtyards. We recommend a visit to the charming bar-restaurant inside, furnished in style, with an attached souvenir shop.

On the way back from the castle we make a brief visit to the nearby village of S. Hyppolite, a colourful village of winegrowers.

We then reach Colmar, a town we have already been to in the past but where we gladly return. We stay at the most characteristic hotel in the city, which struck us especially during our previous visit. It is the most photographed spot in the town for its characteristic structure, picturesquely overlooking the canal of the "Petite Venise". In Colmar we visit the various Christmas markets set up in every little square of the town and make our first purchases. We dine on Alsatian specialities, including "tarte flambée" (a cross between piadina and pizza), and then stroll through the streets skilfully lit by the Christmas illuminations.

Day 2

The day starts well with the rich buffet in the lovely restaurant of our hotel, and we set off at once for nearby Strasbourg. Here we easily find the hotel (again booked online) located in one of the main squares of Strasbourg: place Kleber. The location is convenient and the car park is very close too.

We begin to explore the many Christmas markets scattered all over the city. The best is the one in place de la Cathédrale; in the square there is also a characteristic house with a richly decorated facade called "Maison Kammerzell", and inside the cathedral is the famous astronomical clock which, at 12.31 every day, offers the traditional parade of figures driven by the clock's own mechanisms.

But the area of Strasbourg we like most is "Petite France", a characteristic district with old half-timbered houses overlooking the canals. Here too there is a small Christmas market of traditional Alsatian products, and here we buy the traditional Alsatian Christmas Beer.

We have lunch on the treats (sweet and savoury) that we find at the various stalls, in no particular order. We especially appreciate the pretzels (a special salted braided bread) which come plain, covered in cheese or with bacon. For dessert we choose gauffres (warm grid-patterned waffles filled with whatever you like) and drink the usual mulled spiced wine or, for those who don't drink alcohol, you can warm up with hot orange juice or hot apple juice flavoured with cinnamon.

In the afternoon we visit a "must" of French shopping: the Galerie Lafayette, but we are too tired and buy nothing. We return to the hotel to rest and then go out to dinner in a little place near the Cathédrale. After dinner, strangely, the markets are still open and we take the chance to visit them more calmly and with less of a crowd than in the afternoon, and it isn't even that cold!

Day 3

"The early bird catches the worm" and so we set off early for a small Alsatian village (we had read something about it somewhere) called Riquewihr. We arrive and are amazed by its beauty: here the houses are even older, even more colourful, the decorations even more evident and the atmosphere is fantastic. The main street is entirely given over to a Christmas market displaying all the traditional products, but there are also many little shops. There is even a large store of Christmas decorations from the famous Kathe Wohlfahrt chain, which we invite you to visit for its uniqueness (provided there aren't too many people inside).

We reluctantly leave Riquewihr to reach the last stop of our trip: Kaysersberg. We had read about this place in a magazine that described it as a spot where Christmas was deeply felt. Indeed we are enchanted by the atmosphere and decide that this is perhaps the most beautiful place of our trip (though it is really hard to draw up a ranking of places). Riquewihr and Kaysersberg are so close yet very different: if the first recalled a fairy-tale village, Kaysersberg recalls a landscape from a traditional Christmas card. The mood is festive, almost to excess. It is Sunday and there are lots of people but, strangely, this doesn't spoil it and helps make the scene even more cheerful. Here the market isn't very big but on the other hand there are lots of lovely shops dressed up for the holidays. The main little square is stunning.

The village is well decorated but the decorations are almost superfluous since the architecture itself is a single decoration. The area near the river, with a charming little bridge and the colourful houses facing it, particularly strikes me. In a biscuit shop we buy some delicious Alsatian biscuits, in many different flavours. We especially recommend the cinnamon ones.

And still with the memory of the scent of cinnamon and our eyes full of colours and lights, we head home.

Our short trip is over but we are happy all the same because we had a truly wonderful time.

Dani and Max. to find out more, visit our website: